Apparatus for use with presses and the like



R. SOMAN March 28, 1967 APPARATUS FOR USE WITH PRESSES AND THE LIKE 6Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed July 11 1962 INVENTOR. BERT SoMAN 6Sheets-Sheet 2 I R SOMAN APPARATUS FOR USE WITH PRESSES AND THE LIKEOriginal Filed July 11, 1962 INVENTOR.

ROBERT SoMAN N A M O S R APPARATUS FOR USE WITH PRESSES AND THE LIKE 6Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed July 11, 1952 INVENTOR. ROBERT SQMAN BY//w,m Maw A TZUP/V/J March 28, 1967 R. SOMAN 3,311,066

APPARATUS FOR USE WITH PRESSES AND THE LIKE Original Filed Jul 11, 19626 Sheets-Sheet 4 Q g? i W INVENTOR. ROBERT SGMAN A 7' Tame/:-

R. SOMAN March 28, 1967 A T TOR/v15 ya R. SOMAN March 28, 1967 APPARATUSFOR USE WITH PRESSES AND THE LIKE Original Filed July 11, 1962 6Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR. ROBERT SOMAN United States Patent 3,311,066APPARATUS FUR USE WITH PRESSES AND THE LIKE Robert Soman, Warren, Ohio,assignor to The McKay Machine Company, Warren, Ohio Original appiicationJuly 11, 1962, Ser. No. 209,151, now Patent No. 3,229,791, dated Jan.18, 1966. Divided and this application Feb. 9, 1965, Ser. No. 438,150 2Claims. (Cl. 104-472) This application is a division of application Ser.No. 209,151, filed July 11, 1962, now Patent No. 3,229,791, granted Jan.18, 1966.

The present invention relates to apparatus for use with presses and thelike, more particularly to apparatus for use with presses embodyinglarge and heavy die sets which must frequently be removed from the pressand be replaced by other die sets, and the principal object of theinvention is to provide new and improved apparatus of the characterdescribed.

While the mounting of a large die set between the jaws of a press isnormally a time-consuming operation, this is usually not a seriousproblem when the die set is used for long production runs. Where,however, the press must be run with minimum down time for maximumproduction, but where the die set may require replacement at frequentintervals, as for changing the size or type of the parts producedthereby, quite a serious problem is presented. Under such circumstances,the normal procedure of hoisting the die set in place between the jawsof the press, properly locating it, and then bolting it in position, isfar too slow and is far too costly in lost production time.

The present invention, therefore, is designed to minimize the delayattendant with removing a large die set from a press and the like andreplacing it with another die set. Other advantages will readily becomeapparent from a study of the following description and from the drawingsappended hereto.

In the drawings accompanying this specification and forming a part ofthis application there is shown, for purpose of illustration, anembodiment which the invention may assume, and in these drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary, perspective view of a press incorporatingapparatus of the present invention,

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view generallycorresponding to the line 22 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary elevational view generally corresponding tothe line 33 of FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 but showing certain parts inother positions,

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary view of a portion of the apparatusseen in FIGURE 4,

FIGURES 6 and 7 are views similar to FIGURE 5 but showing certain partsin other positions,

FIGURE 8 is a view similar to FIGURE 7 but still further enlarged,

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary sectional view generally correspondingto theline 9-9 of FIGURE 8,

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary, exploded perspective view of details seen inFIGURE 9,

FIGURE 11 is a fragmentary sectional view generally corresponding to theline 1111 of FIGURE 3, and

FIGURE 12 is a view similar to FIGURE 11 but with certain parts in otherpositions.

With reference to FIGURE 1, there is fragmentarily shown a pressstructure 10 of any conventional design having a bed 11 and a ram 12.Suitable mechanism, not shown, may be employed to effect movement of theram 12 toward and away from the press bed 11.

Disposed between the bed 11 and the ram 12, as viewed in full lines inFIGURE 2, is a die 13 of any suitable type.

" ice Such die comprises a lower portion 14 and an upper portion 15, theformer being adapted to be secured to the press bed and the latter tothe press ram in a manner to be disclosed. As best seen in FIGURES 1, 2and 3, spaced, parallel grooves 16 are formed in the bed 11 for apurpose to appear.

As previously mentioned, one of the features of the invention is theprovision of means facilitating the shifting of the die 13 toward andaway from operable engagement with the press. To this end, die 13 issecurely mounted on a carriage 17 having flanged wheels 18 which arecooperable with the press bed grooves 16 to guide carriage movement.

Formed in the press bed 11 in register with each carriage wheel 18 whenthe carriage is properly located on the press is a vertically shiftabledisk 19 best seen in FIG- URE 2. Each disk carries a continuation of oneof the grooves 16 aforesaid and each is resiliently biased to theposition shown by means of springs 20. A stud 21 is anchored to the diskand carries a nut 22 which limits upward movement of the disk so that,in its upwardly biased position, it forms a continuation of the bed.Springs 20 are of sufficient strength that they will not be debected bythe weight of the carriage-die assembly.

On each side of the carriage 17, outboard of the wheels 18, the carriagecarries bushings 23 to closely fit with respective upwardly projectingpins 24 anchored in the press bed. As illustrated, such pins are lowenough so that the carriage may roll along the bed grooves 16 withoutinterference therefrom.

With the construction thus far described, operation will be as follows:Carriage 17, with the die 13 mounted thereon, will be rolled on to thepress bed 11 from its phantom-line position on means 25 (FIGURE 2),which means provides a suitable track for the carriage. Preferably,means 25 will have grooves formed therein which are identical to andaligned with the grooves 16 in the press bed. With the carriage 17 inits full-line position seen in FIGURE 2; that is, with the carriagebushings 23 generally in registry with respective pins 24, the ram 12will be lowered to engagement with a plate 26 which is secured to theupper die part 15. The ram will be further lowered, compressing the disksprings 20, until such time as the underside of the carriage abuts theupper surface of the press bed 11 as shown in FIGURE 4 As the carriageis forced down against the springs 20, the pins 24 will enter respectivebushings 23 to insure accurate location of the carriage and thusaccurate location of the die within the press. Following this, the diewill be locked to the press by means next to be disclosed.

As viewed in FIGURE 2, a plurality of tension members 27 are carried bythe press bed 11 and the press ram 12 and, since all are similar, onlyone need be described in detail. With respect to FIGURE 3, a pair oftension members 27 are carried by the press bed at the near side of thedie with another pair being carried directly above them by the press ram12. Similar pairs of tension members are carried by the press bed andpress ram respectively at the far side of the die.

Each pair of tension members is carried by a shaft; for example, thelower tension members seen in FIGURE 3 being carried by a shaft 28 whichis adapted to be rotated in a manner to be described by a motor unit 29.Each pair of tension members has its own shaft as can be seen in FIGURES2 and 4.

With reference to FIGURES 5 through 9, the tension member 27 showntherein has a ring-like base portion 30, a threaded shank portion 31,and a nut 32 threaded upon the shank portion 31 and forming a head for apurpose to appear. With particular reference to FIGURES 9 and 10, aneccentric 33 is keyed or otherwise secured to the shaft 28 and has anintegral, radially outwardly projecting 3 collar 34. Eccentric 33 isproportioned to closely fit within the central aperture of the tensionmember portion with the latter closely adjacent the eccentric collar 34.

Seated in a bore in the side of member portion 30 facing the eccentriccollar 34 is a pointed-end plunger urged outwardly by means of a spring3-6. Collar 34 (see FIGURE IO) has a shallow recess 37 into which thepointed end of the plunger will be forced by its spring when such recessis inregister with the plunger for a purpose to appear. As clearly shownin FIGURE 9, shaft 28 is rotatably carried by spaced brackets 38 affixedto the press bed.

With the parts positioned as seen in FIGURE 5 and in full-lines inFIGURE 4, it will be noted that eccentric 33 is offset to the upper sideof shaft 28 and that the tension member 27 projects horizontallyoutwardly of the press bed. Although not shown, the previously describedplunger 35 will be sprung to seated relation in the eccentric rollerrecess 37 so as to lock the eccentric and the ten sion member togetherfor unitary rotation.

Shaft 28 will now be rotated in the direction of the arrow seen inFIGURE 5 thus causing simultaneous rotation of the tension member.

Upon approximately ninety degrees rotation of the shaft 28, the latterwill assume the position seen in FIGURE 6 with the tension member shankportion 31 within slots 39 and respectively formed in the press bed 11and the carriage 17. Note that the tension member nut, or head 32 isspaced slightly above the bottom of a pocket 41 formed in the carriage.

Upon continued'movement of the shaft 28 in the direction of the arrow,the plunger 35 will be forced out of, its recess 37 in the eccentriccollar since the bed slot 39 prevents any further rotation of thetension member in the direction of the arrow. With the tension memberthus prevented from rotating, continued rotation of the eccentric 33 toa position off-set beneath the shaft 28 will bodily lower the tensionmember and draw the tension member nut 32 tightly against the bottom ofthe carriage pocket 41' as shown in FIGURES 7 through 9 and in phantomin FIGURE 4. This will, of course, securely clamp the, carriage to thepress bed. It will be understood that once the proper position of thenut 32 on the tension member shank 31 has been determined at assembly toexert the desired clamping pressure, the nut may be permanently lockedin place by welding it to the shank or by any other. suitable expedient.

While it would be possible to lock the shaft 28 in the position shown inFIGURE 7 by means of a suitable brake or other locking device whichcould be formed as part of the motor unit 29, this is presentlyconsidered impractical and excessively costly. Instead, the following isemployed to effect such function As viewed in FIGURE 8,

a the eccentric 33 has been rotated in the direction of the arrowslightly beyond its maximum, downwardly off-set 'position. This isillustrated by the exaggerated angularity between the plane XX whichpasses through the center of the eccentric 33 and the center of itsshaft 28 and the plane YY which is parallel with the tension memberaxis. Stated another way, the shaft 28 is rotated in the direction ofthe arrow slightly beyond a position wherein' maximum tension isexerted'on the tension member. Further rotation of the shaft 28 in thedirection of the I arrow is prevented since this is the limit of motortravel in from the prms, it is only necessary to reverse the directionof drive of the motor unit 29. With the shaft 28 thus rotated by themotor unit in the reverse direction, initial movement thereof will causethe tension member nut 32 to move away from the bottom of the carriagepocket 41 to thus release the carriage. After approximately rotation ofthe shaft in this reverse direction, the plunger 35 will spring into theeccentric collar pocket 37 so that the continued reverse rotation of theshaft will shift the tension member from its vertical position to theposition shown in FIGURES 3 and 5.

While but one tension member has been described in detail, it will beunderstood that each will operate in a similar manner to secure the diein position and to release the same. It will also be understood that thetension members carried by the press ram 12 function to clamp the dieplate 26 to the ram.

With the carriage 17 clamped to the press bed 11 by the lower tensionmembers and with the die plate 26 clamped to the press ram 12 by theupper tension members as shown in FIGURE 4 with the tension members intheir phantom-line positions, the press rarn may now be elevated toseparate the upper and lower die portions 15, 14 respectively to thuspermit the insertion therein of workpiece upon which the die is designedto work when the ram descends.

When the die is to be removed from the press, it is only necessary tobring the press ram to the position seen in FIGURE 4, to shift thetension members to their fullline positions, and to then elevate the ramas seen in FIG- URE 2. The disk springs 20 will thereupon raise the dieto the position seen in FIGURE 2 so that the carriage and its attacheddie may be rolled from the press.

As previously mentioned, die 13 may be of considerable size and weight;accordingly, means are provided to facilitate shifting of the die towardand away from its position on the press. To this end, a pair of chainsare provided, one on each side of the path along which the die travelstoward and away from its position in the press. As seen in FIGURES 11and 12, and wherein but one side of the structure is shown in theinterest of simplicity, a roller chain 42 is looped over two sprockets44 to provide a chain reach closely adjacent the side of the carriage.Each sprocket is carried by a spindle 43 rotatably carried by the pressbed 11, the spindles being suitably driven by any conventional meanswhich have not been shown.

Projecting from the carriage 17 are abutments 45, 46 and carried by thechain 42 are spaced-apart transversely projecting lugs 47, 48. Alsocarried by the chain 42 in diametrically opposed relation with the lugs47, 48 are identical lugs 47.1, 48.1. As illustrated in FIGURE 3, anidentical arrangement of a chain, lugs, and the like is provided at theopposite side of the carriage. Preferably, all of the sprocket spindleswill be interconnected so that both chains 42 may be shifted in phasedrelationship.

In operation and with both chains positioned as seen in FIGURE 12,carriage 17 will be disposed as shown with its abutments 45 adjacent thenear reach of the adjoining chain. If sprockets 43 are now rotated toshift chains 42 in the direction of the arrows, chain lugs 47 willengage their carriage abutments 45 to thus shift the carriage to theright. When the carriage is correctly positioned as seen in FIGURE 11,sprocket rotation will be terminated whereupon the die may be clamped inposition as earlier disclosed.

When the die is to be shifted from the position seen in FIGURE 11,sprocket rotation may be reversed thus carrying lugs 48 into engagementwith abutments 45 to thereby return the carriage to the left to theposition seen in FIGURE 12. Alternatively, carriage 17 may also beshifted from the position seen in FIGURE 11 to the right, if desired,assuming, of course, that means similar to 25 provides a track for thecarriage on the right side of the press structure. In this event,sprocket rotation will be continued in the direction first-mentionedthus moving the carriage to the right until lugs 47 pass around theirright-hand sprockets 44 and disengage from behind their abutments 45.Continued sprocket movement will then carry lugs 43.1 into engagementwith abutments 46 to further shift the carriage to the right until theselugs also pass around the right-hand sprockets 4'3 and disengage frombehind their abutments 46. Clearly, merely by reversing the aboveoperations, the carriage 17 may be shifted in the opposite directionfrom that described.

In view of the foregoing, it will be apparent to those skilled in theart that I have accomplished at least the principal object of myinvention and it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art thatthe embodiment herein described may be variously changed and modified,without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that theinvention is capable of uses and has advantages not herein specificallydescribed; hence it will be appreciated that the herein disclosedembodiment is illustrative only, and that my invention is not limitedthereto.

I claim:

1. A transfer device for a press having a bed formed with a first trackextending crosswise of said bed and aligned with a second track disposedat one side of said bed, a wheeled carriage to which a section of thepress die is attached, said carriage being wheeled along said tracksbetween a position outside of said bed wherein said press die sectionmay be repaired or changed, to a position within said press wherein saidpress die section is held in operating alignment with a complementarydie section carried by the ram of said press, said first track havingdepressible portions vertically aligned with said carriage wheels whensaid carriage is in said operating alignment and operable to permit saidcarriage to be lowered relative to said bed, locking means engaged whensaid carriage is lowered to lock said carriage in said operatingalignment, a chain movable about spaced sprockets which are rotatablycarried by said bed, said chain having -a reach adjoining one side ofand being parallel to said first track, means for driving said chain inopposite directions, said carriage having an abutment and said chainhaving spaced lugs which are engageahle with said abutment when movedalong said chain reach, in one direction of chain movement one lugengaging one side of said abutment to drive said carriage in said onedirection, and in the opposite direction of chain movement the other lugengaging the opposite side of said abutment to drive said carriage insaid opposite direction.

2. The construction of claim .1 wherein a third track is disposed on theopposite side of said bed and is aligned with said first and secondtracks, wherein said carriage is provided with two abutments spacedapart along the line of carriage movement, and wherein said chain hastwo corresponding sets of lugs, one set cooperable with one abutment andthe other set cooperable with the other abutment, said lug sets and saidabutments being relatively spaced so that one lug of one set will engageits respective abutment and drive said carriage along said first andsecond tracks from a position at said one side of said bed to positionwithin said press, and the corresponding lug of the other set of lugswill engage its respective abutment and drive said carriage along saidsecond and third tracks from position within said press to position atsaid opposite side of said bed.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,799,641 4/1931Prouty et a1. 104172 2,132,455 10/1938 Bishop 104-172 2,742,863 4/1956Burkitt 104-172 3,058,433 10/1962 Hurst 104-172 ARTHUR L. LA POINT,Primary Examiner.

DRAYTON E. HOFFMAN, Examiner.

1. A TRANSFER DEVICE FOR A PRESS HAVING A BED FORMED WITH A FIRST TRACKEXTENDING CROSSWISE OF SAID BED AND ALIGNED WITH A SECOND TRACK DISPOSEDAT ONE SIDE OF SAID BED, A WHEELED CARRIAGED TO WHICH AS SECTION OF THEPRESS DIE IS ATTACHED, SAID CARRIAGE BEING WHEELED ALONG SAID TRACKSBETWEEN A POSITION OUTSIDE OF SAID BED WHEREIN SAID PRESS DIE SECTIONMAY BE REPAIRED OR CHANGED, TO A POSITION WITHIN SAID PRESS WHEREIN SAIDPRESS DIE SECTION IS HELD IN OPERATING ALIGNMENT WITH A COMPLEMENTARYDIE SECTION CARRIED BY THE RAM OF SAID PRESS, SAID FIRST TRACK HAVINGDEPRESSIBLE PORTIONS VERTICALLY ALIGNED WITH SAID CARRIAGE WHEELS WHENSAID CARRIAGE IS IN SAID OPERATING ALIGNMENT AND OPERABLE TO PERMIT SAIDCARRIAGE TO BE LOWERED RELATIVE TO SAID BED, LOCKING MEANS ENGAGED WHENSAID CARRIAGE IS LOWERED TO LOCK SAID CARRIAGE IN SAID OPERATINGALIGNMENT, A CHAIN MOVABLE ABOUT SPACED SPROCKETS WHICH ARE ROTATABLYCARRIED BY SAID BED, SAID CHAIN HAVING A REACH ADJOINING ONE SIDE OF ANDBEING PARALLEL TO SAID FIRST TRACK, MEANS FOR DRIVING SAID CHAIN INOPPOSITE DIRECTIONS, SAID CARRIAGE HAVING AN ABUTMENT AND SAID CHAINHAVING SPACED LUGS WHICH ARE ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID ABUTMENT WHEN MOVEDALONG SAID CHAIN REACH, IN ONE DIRECTION OF CHAIN MOVEMENT ONE LUGENGAGING ONE SIDE OF SAID ABUTMENT TO DRIVE SAID CARRIAGE IN SAID ONEDIRECTION, AND IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION OF CHAIN MOVEMENT THE OTHER LUGENGAGING THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID ABUTMENT TO DRIVE SAID CARRIAGE INSAID OPPOSITE DIRECTION.